


Everyone Blooms

by blu3boi



Category: Dungeons and Daddies (Podcast)
Genre: Bullying, Canon Typical Violence, Fluff, M/M, Manipulation, Mutual Pining, Probably ooc, Trans Henry, before canon, fight me on this, fuck barry, i’ll put cw on those chapters dw, littol henry deserves a friend/cute boy to vent to, misgendering but like not excessive???, mom said it’s my turn on making a dndads oc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26617612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blu3boi/pseuds/blu3boi
Summary: Henry meets an unlikely friend in the forest outside of Oakvale.
Relationships: Original Character/Henry Oak
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Everyone Blooms

**Author's Note:**

> Fun info before reading:  
> Henry is 12 and so is Rowan  
> Henry is littol cuz the twins are tiny  
> I don’t know how to spell Hor’si  
> yes the title is based on a The Front Bottoms song

A small silhouette enters Barry Oak’s field of vision, breaking his vinyasa. Untangling himself from the complex yoga pose he’s in, Barry sighs, sitting cross legged and motions for Henry to come into his “office”. Henry stands nervously in front of Barry, looking him in the eyes out of habit, despite how closed Barry’s eyes were.

“G-greetings Father, I was um- I was perhaps-“ Barry interrupts Henry before he can finish speaking.

“ _ Hen, _ ” Henry scrunched his nose at how his father said his name, “slow down. Breathe deeply and tell me what it is you need. You standing and mumbling incoherently doesn’t help me or you.” His eyes remain closed as he speaks, unable to see Henry’s fist clench. He is able to hear Henry begin to do his breathing exercises, which makes him feel satisfied.

“Father, I wish to explore the forest outside the village.” Henry takes a big breath. “Not the one surrounding the village though, the one outside of that.” Noticing the micro shift of Barry’s expression, Henry gets ready for the “no.”

“Mmh, yes you may Hen.” For a moment Henry feels excited, until he hears the rest of what Barry says. “You must take someone else with you. You’re not capable enough to handle yourself outside of the protective field.” Henry wants to argue, say that he is. That he knows how to do magic and shoot arrows and that he is capable enough. Yet, he knows it better not to argue with his father. Nodding, giving a small “yes sir” and “thank you”, Henry goes off to pack a small bag. Filling it with books and snacks, Henry tries to think of who he could ask to come with.

Henry spends a lot of his time alone. None of the other children wanted to play with him, their parents warning them not to. Out of a fear that their child might do something to upset Henry who could tell his father. The only other kid who actively spoke to him was Hor’si, which… Henry wasn’t gonna ask him. Henry has to try though. Carrying a small basket with two books, some bread and an apple in it, Henry goes around and tries to ask other children if they’d accompany him. None of the want to, some laugh and move away, others don’t respond to him, giving him a weird look like he was some hobgoblin. It doesn’t take long for Hor’si to notice Henry, coming over and grabbing Henry’s basket.

“H-Hor’si! Give that back! It’s mine!” Hor’si was much taller than Henry, being able to hold the basket up high so Henry couldn’t reach it. 

“What are you gonna do about it,  _ Hen? _ Call your daddy to come fix your problem for you?” Henry must look pathetic, jumping up to try and grab his things, just barely able to touch the bottom of the basket.

“Just give it back and leave me alone! Why are you such a jerk?” Henry feels his anger bubbling, that familiar and foreign feeling that he hated. That father hated. He pushes those feelings back as he feels a hand push  _ him _ to the ground. The wicker basket drops as well, it’s contents scattering, the apple rolling away before Henry can grab it and put it back. Crawling to get the apple back, it’s kicked away before he can reach it. Other children noticed the ruckus and had come over to watch, giggling as Henry went to scramble after the apple again. Of course, Hor’si pretends to pick it up, feign like he’s helping Henry, only to kick it further away. Embarrassment fills Henry, his face getting incredibly red as the laughter gets louder and more kids come over. The apples rolls over to the feet of another kid, Henry praying to the Gods they’d be kind and give it to him, ending this hell. Henry pulls himself up out of the dirt, reaching out to them to give it back. His heart sinks when they toss it back to Hor’si. Henry ends up in a cruel game of keep away as the apple is tossed back and forth, him running after it like an idiot, the cackling growing louder and louder as he gets more and more upset. Tears of frustration prick at his eyes and Hor’si notices.

“Aww, Hen are you gonna cry? Do you want this back?” The apple had already been bruised to the point where it was probably inedible. Still, Henry nods, hot angry and shameful tears rolled down his red, freckled cheeks. Hor’si grins, reals his arm back, and nails Henry in the face with the apple, cracking his glasses. “Oops, my bad Hen.” The laugher grows louder and louder, to the point where it’s deafening to Henry. Abandoning his things, hand gently touching the forming bruise on his face, Henry runs, the shouts and laughs following him the entire way.

Running was tiring, but Henry didn’t stop until he felt like he would collapse. Branches and shrubs whipped past him, knocking him in the legs and face. Henry didn’t care, he needed to get away. Eventually he has to stop to catch his breath. Hands on his knees, hunched over gasping for air, Henry finally takes in his surroundings. He’s definitely not in Oakvale anymore. The trees here are different kinds and look gnarled and unique. Henry wishes he would’ve brought his books with him so he could press these leaves to see what trees they are. The adrenaline of running begins to leave Henry as oxygen enters and he realizes two truths about his life right now. He was alone in the world and he had no clue where he was. Panic starts to creep in, the unfamiliar forest starting to feel less wondrous and more terrifying. Henry begins to back up, unsure of why, when his back hits a tree causing a small shriek to escape him. Sinking down to the forest floor, tree on his back, Henry curls in on himself and begins to cry again. Cry about being lost, about having no friends, about how he was gonna die in these woods,  _ about how his father was right. _

Loud sobs echo through the forest, Henry never gets the chance to cry loudly back home. Henry is unable to hear the footsteps approaching, his weeping too loud. He does feel a hand on his shoulder which makes him jump out of his skin.

“Please don’t hurt me! My father is- he can give you money just don’t hurt me!” Henry cowers, covering his eyes, not wanting to look at whatever this monster is.

“I don’t want to hurt you. I just wanted to see if you were okay, you’ve been crying for an awfully long time.” The voice sounds friendly and… young. Someone his age and definitely not a monster. Henry peeks out from under his arms at the stranger. He’s taken aback when he sees who is talking to him. They’re an eladrin, from the feywild. They’re hair made up of dark green leaves, a few white flowers poking out from the bush on their head. They have light olive green skin and the exaggerated features of an elf, long ears, slender limbs, almost a natural gracefulness to them. And dark brown freckles bespeckle their whole body. Henry had only heard of eladrin in the story books his mother would read to him, they were much more beautiful than he had imagined. The eladrin kid sits down in front of Henry, putting out their hand for Henry to shake. “I’m Rowan, he/him, by the way. Um… are you okay?”

“Hen- Henry, Henry Oak, um, he/him too.” Henry takes Rowan’s hand in his, he can’t help but note how soft it is. “I’m uh- I’m okay. I’m O-A-K as we say at home.” Henry laughs nervously, wiping the remaining tears off his face.

“Hmm, you don’t sound okay. You were just crying for like 20 minutes. Is something wrong?” His voice sounds genuine and kind, something Henry isn’t quite used too.

“Maybe okay isn’t the right word… I’m lost.” He admitted. Rowan stands up and offers a hand to Henry.

“You’re from Oakvale, I can take you back. It’s not that far away from here.” Henry reaches up and takes Rowan’s hand. Pulling Henry up, Rowan doesn’t let go. 

“How do you know I’m from Oakvale?” Henry realizes how stupid that question is and curses himself for asking. Rowan laughs as he begins to lead Henry through the forest.

“It’s kinda easy to tell, Henry  _ Oak. _ ” He teases lightly, which causes Henry to blush even more. For a moment they walk in silence, Henry enjoying the feeling of holding another’s hand, until Rowan breaks the silence.

“How’d you get that bruise on your face? You fall or something?” 

“Oh! Um, not exactly…” Henry debates lying but he’d probably never see Rowan again so why not tell the truth. “Someone threw an apple at my face.”

“That’s awful Henry! That person sounds like an ass.” Henry laughs at Rowan’s remark, something he had always thought but was too scared to say aloud.

“Yeah he is an ass.” The curse felt foreign in his mouth. “But really that’s nothing to some of the other stuff he’s done.” Henry meant that as a joke, he makes fun of himself a lot. He hadn’t expected to feel the others hand tighten on his.

“Why don’t you beat this guy up? Sounds like he needs to get his ass kicked to me.” 

“W-well, I really can’t. He’s older than me and much stronger too. I’ve tried to hit him before and I did but he just laughed.” Henry sounds a little dejected “Don’t get me wrong, if I could, I’d love to nail him right in the face.” 

“I can help you get back at him.” Henry gives Rowan a confused look, who smiles mischievously at him. “Don’t you know that the fey are  _ really  _ good at tricking people? I could teach you some tricks or something.”

“Right now?” That causes another laugh from Rowan.

“No silly, my parents are expecting me back home soon. If you meet me tomorrow at noon at the edge of the forest I could teach you some pranks.” Rowan’s offer runs through Henry’s head. No one had  _ ever _ offered to hangout with him. He was unsure of how to respond to that, so he just nods his head rapidly.

“Cool! Then it’s a date.”

“A d-date?” Henry becomes a flustered mess, his face getting red and warm. Rowan laughs again, much harder than the previous times.

“Not that kind of date! Gosh, you’re really funny Henry.” Henry laughs along, extremely happy that Rowan didn’t think he was weird.

“Oh. Okay, then yeah, it’s a date.” Henry smiles, his heart full at the idea of finally making a friend.

**Author's Note:**

> baby henry deserves a friend,,,,   
> i care him so much


End file.
